Wednesday, July 23, 2008

An Upcoming Haftorah

I am curious to find out if I will be chanting the Haftorah before Tisha B’Av this year. I have done this for the past number of years and I enjoy it. It is not such an easy Haftorah to chant as the trope, the melody, switches back and forth four times between what is traditionally used on Shabbat and what is used for Tisha B’Av.

Normally, by this time, I have already been asked to do it since I have done it in the past and it is difficult for a new person to learn the switches. Obviously, it can be done as I did it for the first time once myself. In fact, it was not even that long ago, it was about eight years ago.

If someone else wants to do it, that is fine. I have done it for a number of years and do not mind letting someone else have a turn. If they want me to do it, again, I am fine with that as I have done it in the past. Still, if I am doing it, I want to look it over ahead of time. I have a feeling that a couple of days before it is time for the Haftorah to be read, someone is going to say something to me, as though it is a forgone conclusion that I will be chanting it.

As a result, I will probably look it over, just to be on the safe side. Still, it would be nice if I actually believed that I would get advanced notice if they wanted me to do it.

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